


Bucky's Tale: Darcy's Oatmeal Cookies

by Larilyn



Series: Darcy Has a Mission! And other Nonsense. [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:08:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26735665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larilyn/pseuds/Larilyn
Summary: Winter Jasmine from Bucky's POV.  Fills square Y2 "Terrible First Meeting" in Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020. Part One of Three. Part two fills square L4 "Are you flirting with me right now?"
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis
Series: Darcy Has a Mission! And other Nonsense. [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1926583
Comments: 29
Kudos: 153
Collections: Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020





	1. Chapter 1

He knew who the woman was.

She’d come bounding up to Sam once, lips cherry red from a popsicle that she had been sucking on. Her lips were swollen from the cold and he wondered if that was how they looked when she had been thoroughly kissed. The smell of vanilla wafted in her wake.

He’d fled, of course. But that didn’t stop those lips from creeping into his thoughts from time to time.

He’d seen her around several times. But never this late.

It was just after three am. Bucky had tried and failed to fall asleep, so he started wandering and ended up in a little kitchenette by the situation room. Legend had it that it housed the best coffee maker in the compound.

She was standing at the machine, poking at it. And she turned and said, “Don’t look at me like you can have me.”

“What?”

She started punching at the buttons and muttered, “I’m fucking thirsty,” she turned to him with wide, glassy eyes and said, “and you are a foul creature.”

Bucky felt physically sick. Was he dreaming this? Did she really…?

A tiny woman in stockinged feet came skidding in, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.” She tugged on the other woman’s sleeve and gently turned her towards the door. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Dr. Foster. This is Darcy.”

Darcy tried to turn back to the machine. “I want to push all the buttons. All the buttons!”

Bucky was genuinely concerned, “What is wrong with her?”

“She’s asleep,” Dr. Foster laughed. “She does this when our schedule gets all messed up. Which is totally my fault. So, so sorry.”

“She’s sleepwalking?”

“Yeah. She’s being really good tonight. Usually she’s calling people names.”

At this Darcy pointed at Bucky and hissed, “Ghouls. I see ghouls.”

“Shit. Sorry. Its totally my fault. She’s a nice person when she’s awake.” Dr. Foster was out the door when she called back to Bucky, “Nice to meet you!”

She was awake the next time she spoke to him.

“Out! Get out!” She screamed.

The lab was soaking wet. The sprinklers were still going. There was still a piece of equipment on fire. And Dr. Foster was hysterically spraying everything in sight with the fire extinguisher.

“Came to help…” Bucky started.

“Out!” Darcy screamed again. So, he fled.

She was awake, and not screaming, the third time she spoke to him. But she wasn’t happy. She was armed with a pile of handwritten notes and a mug full of coffee from the kitchenette. She had her hair in a bun with three different pencils stuck in it. She was clearly frazzled.

He’d wished he’d noticed her before he’d accidently plowed into her and knocked everything out of her hands.

“What the fuck, dude?!”

“Sorry,” Bucky bent to retrieve the papers that had flown out of her hands.

“You should be,” she scolded. “Do you know how long it took me to organize all these notes? Jesus.”

“Sorry,” he muttered again. He dropped a piece of paper into spilled coffee. It was an accident. But she snatched it out of his hands.

“Just… let me… “

Sam yelled at him, “Barnes, let’s go…”

They had a mission. That was the reason for his rush. But still, he offered one more, “Sorry…”

“Just go…save the world. Let us peons do our jobs in peace.”

The smell of vanilla lingered on his clothes.

Bucky almost didn’t ask. But he was understandably intrigued.

“Do you know Darcy Lewis?”

Sam wasn’t really paying attention.

“Yeah. Banner brought her in with Dr. Foster. She’s nice. Why?”

Bucky shrugged, “No reason.”

Sam suddenly was paying attention. A knowing smile crept across his face, “Mmm hmm. You’re a breast man.”

“What? No. I mean…no.”

“Sorry, I can’t help it. Irritating you is fun. Really, why’d you ask?”

Bucky let out a little exhale of frustration, “She keeps yelling at me.”

“You probably deserved it.”

“Sam…”

“Barnes!”

Bucky jumped at her voice.

“Just the man I wanted to see!”

She was coming towards him. He braced himself for the onslaught.

But she was smiling…

And she reached for his hand…

His left hand…

Without flinching at all, she pulled him towards the largest kitchenette in the compound.

“I need your super taste buds. I added a few special ingredients to an otherwise very boring cookie recipe. And I asked Banner and Scott and they both insisted they were good cookies. But who doesn’t like cookies, right? I need a more discerning palate.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what was happening. But she was holding a cookie in front of his nose and looking at him expectantly.

He took a bite and tried not to grimace.

Raisins.

He HATED raisins.

He faked a smile and promised, “S’good.”

At least she wasn’t yelling at him.


	2. Bucky's Tale: Late Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fills square L4 "Are you flirting with me right now?" in Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020

“I don’t know any of these songs, Ms. Lewis.” Bucky flipped through the book of songs that were available to be performed on the makeshift stage in the common area.

Banner was holding a microphone in his fist and was crooning about True Colors shining through.

Sam and Rhodey had lighters out and were waving them to the rhythm in the air. Wanda did the same with the flashlight on her phone.

“Dahr. Cee. Say it with me, Darcy.”

“Darcy. These songs are…”

“Nice try, Buckaroo, but there is a whole section here that I think you may be familiar with.”

And she was right. There were selections by Rosemary Clooney, Vera Lynn and Vaughn Monroe.

“I’ll bet you know all the Andrews Sisters songs by heart, Sarge,” Darcy smiled up at him. Sam had been right. Despite their initial meetings, Darcy was a nice girl.

She had a nice smile.

“There’s no I in team building, Buckaroo. Or…there is. But come on, it’s the principle of the thing. Please?”

And she was looking at him with such sweet expectation, he decided to humor her. “Over the Rainbow,” he chose.

Darcy made a little bounce of joy and he was so happy he had made her happy that he almost smiled.

Bucky immediately suppressed it.

Nice girls didn’t belong with men like him.

He should probably stay away from her. But she didn’t make it easy.

One day she ran, well…slid up to him, soaking wet, and screeched, “This means war, Wilson! And Barnes is on my team!”

Let’s just say, Sam had a rough two weeks.

Once she came bounding up to him and asked randomly, “Do you like puppies?”

“Who doesn’t like puppies?” he replied.

“Excellent,” and with a little fist pump she was gone.

The last mission had been bad. It brought up memories he’d prefer not to think about. Memories of the things that he’d done and memories of the things that had been done to him

He tossed and turned for hours, unable to sleep. So he retreated to the rooftop to get away from the silence of his room. Somehow the crickets and frogs chirping below were good company.

He didn’t know if she had followed him. But she was suddenly there.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

“Not sure they’re worth that much, Doll.”

She was twisting her hands in front of her as she took a few steps towards him.

“I can listen anyway.”

Bucky gestured to the chair next to his. She sat and patiently waited. Something about the warmth of her eyes and the smell of vanilla in the air got to him.

The words came pouring out. And he felt more relaxed than he had in a long time.

“What’s this show again?”

He shoved a piece of pizza in his mouth as he talked. No one stood on ceremony in Darcy’s apartment.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

“Doll…are you messing with me?”

“I promise you I’m not. Now sit.”

By the episode where they found out Angel was a vampire she had fallen asleep with her head on his thigh. He played with her hair until Buffy killed the Master. Then he carried her to her bed and placed a small throw over her. He took off her glasses and placed them carefully on the nightstand. He almost didn’t go home.

He slept better than he had in ages, he slept in his clothes. They smelled like vanilla.

“Sometimes I look around and I think, ‘I don’t deserve all this’. Not after everything that I’ve done.”

Darcy didn’t say anything. She just put her hand on his arm.

“I know, you’re gonna say it wasn’t my fault.”

“No, I’m not. Because it wasn’t even you. It was your body, but you weren’t…you. I can’t even tell you how angry I am for what they did to you. The way they violated….”

She took a deep breath and exhaled, like she was trying to avoid losing her temper.

“Bucky, if you ever need an ear, or a shoulder. I’m here. But if you try blaming yourself? Well, I’m not having it.”

He allowed himself a small half smile, “You’ll set me straight, Doll?”

“Damned skippy, Buckaroo.”  
  


“You and Darcy have a thing?” Sam asked casually.

“What do you mean, a thing?”

Bucky dropped his duffel on the bench in the locker room and pulled out the vanilla beans that he’d bought for Darcy just before they came home from Madagascar. They smelled fantastic. They smelled like her.

“You know… a thing,” Sam explained. “You dating?”

“No,” Bucky closed his eyes and smelled the vanilla. “She’s… she doesn’t want to get mixed up with someone like me.”

He glanced over to Sam who was pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

“I don’t even know where to start, Barnes. Did _she_ say that?” Sam held up his hand to stop Bucky’s reply, “Of course she didn’t. You’re projecting your shit onto her. Don’t do that. And someone like you? What’s that even mean, man?”

Bucky hung his head a little. “You know what that means, Sam.”

“I could lecture you about how good she is for you, but you already know it. But you’re good for her too, you know. She really cares about you.”

Darcy panicked when Lilo and Stitch made him cry.

“Shit, shit, I wasn’t thinking. Shit! Don’t cry.”

Bucky wiped the tears out of his eyes with the back of his hand. His eyes were probably still red, but he wanted to remove the tears so Darcy would stop being upset.

“Darcy-doll, I loved it. Really, I did.”

That night they fell asleep on her couch. And he didn’t put her back in her bed. He just stayed there, wrapped up in her. She sat up suddenly around 3 am and looked at him through glossy eyes.

“Darcy?”

“Are you flirting with me right now? You’re not ready for this jelly.”

She was asleep, Bucky realized. Before she got up and started walking around, Bucky gently guided her back to snuggle in his arms.

“I’m a friend of frogs, they’re a good friend of mine.” she mumbled.

Two days later he bought her a Lilo and Stitch mug. And oddly enough, she ordered him the exact same one. The one she gave him was stuffed with herbal teas. One was chamomile vanilla. That night they watched the Wizard of Oz while they ate cookies and drank tea out of their matching mugs.

Darcy made him sing along to Over the Rainbow.


	3. Bucky's Tale: Letters to Darcy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter of the retelling of Winter Jasmine from Bucky's POV. For Ladies of Marvel Bingo 2020. Chapter one fills square Y2: terrible first meeting. Chapter two fills square L4 "Are you flirting with me right now? Chapter three fills square A4 Pillow Biting

Sam teased him about the letters.

“Man, she’s not gonna even get that until you are already back home.”

“Helps me sleep,” Bucky explained. They were in deep cover so he couldn’t text or call. But he needed to talk to her. So letters it was. “Besides,” he continued, “It’s the principle of the thing.”

Sam sighed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Bucky shrugged, “Just something Darcy says.”

“Something Darcy says,” Sam repeated with a little smirk.

“What are you reading???” Darcy practically yanked the book from his hands.

“Sam said that it was a modern classic.”

Darcy shook her head and rolled her eyes in complete exasperation, “Sam was messing with you.”

He flopped backwards in relief, “Oh thank god. I was worried that this was considered great literature. The first book was okay… the protagonist was a little bland but.. the rest? What a terrible way to spend the day.”

“Wait. You read the whole series in one day?”

“Strangely, I couldn’t put it down.”

Darcy had that look. The one where she was about to tease him mercilessly and make it seem like she wasn’t. She kindly and sweetly asked, “Bucky, do you want me to leave you alone with Bella and Edward?”

He almost smiled when he admitted, “No. Honestly the last book is terrible. Edward biting the pillow to keep from biting her? And then… Renesmee? I know that I’m not familiar with current names, but that sounds made up.”

“It is. And don’t get me started on what they made her look in the movies. It would give you nightmares.”

“I already have nightmares, Doll,” he reminded her.

She gave him a soft, sympathetic look. She was probably recalling the night last week where he had shown up at her door after a terrible nightmare. She had let him in, wrapped him in a big, plush blanket, curled up on the couch with him and watched a cooking show until he fell asleep.

Her eyes then flickered with mischief as she declared, “These nightmares would be worse. Much much worse. There is no horror like movie Renesmee.”

_Darcy,_

_I can’t sleep._

_Sam and I are in a safe house and he is snoring. He snores. I think I’d rather deal with a sleepwalker. Or movie Renesmee._

_I’m teasing._

_Thanks for the cookies. You are a doll, really._

_It’s way too quiet here. I’m thinking too much. Thinking about things in the past. Wish you were here to listen. Feels better to get those things out. To know that you will hold my hand and tell me things that I need to hear. I think you even believe them._

_Hell, I need to find a bat to beat Sam with._

_Be home soon, Doll._

_Bucky_

“So how was your trip?” Darcy asked casually.

She’d taken to meeting the quinjet when it landed. She grabbed his duffle from him and slung it over her shoulder. He gave up protesting three missions ago.

“Wasn’t bad, Doll. Did you get your paper done?”

“Yes, and next time I say, ‘maybe I should apply to graduate school’ don’t encourage me.”

“Just make sure you don’t pull any all nighters. Not with Jane either. Sets you off on your sleepwalking.”

“Should I really be doing this?”

“Yes. You can do it. I believe in you.”

She pointed at him and narrowed her eyes with mock disdain, “You sir, are a menace with your sincere eyes and your comforting voice. And your lips.”

“What about my lips?”

“Nothing. Forget I mentioned it. Them.”

Bucky almost smiled as she stalked off.

“You had a bonfire?” Bucky stirred the gravy, making sure it was lump free. “What did you burn?”

“Not much.” Darcy aggressively stirred the cookie dough. “Shawn-Shane whatever his name was, isn’t allowed on site. So Jane didn’t have much that belonged to him. Just a flannel shirt she borrowed once. And some receipts. Still. It’s…

They both finished at the same time, “the principle of the thing.”

Darcy grinned and added a few drops of real vanilla extract to the cookie dough. She dabbed a little behind her ears.

Bucky ate the cookies without picking out the raisins.

_Darcy,_

_I hope you had a good time in Japan. You probably spent the entire time keeping Jane from yelling at people. Not a job I’d want. Then again you probably don’t want to pull Sam’s ass out of the fire. Literally. He’s an idiot._

_You better have your next paper done by the time I get back too. You’ve promised me a horror movie marathon. Don’t know what you see in those movies. But you cuddle closer to me when we watch them. And you leave my clothes smelling like you… like vanilla. I love it. I love you._

_I love you._

_I need to tell you._

_I will. Soon as I land._

She didn’t meet him at the jet.

It hurt.

He rationalized that she was probably busy with Dr. Foster, or working on homework. But he couldn’t deny, that it hurt.

When Banner came out to the jet with that look on his face, like he had some bad news, Bucky knew.

He dropped his duffel on the ground and raced to medical.

He shouldn’t have yelled at Dr. Foster. He felt bad as soon as he did. But seeing Darcy in that hospital bed…

It was too much. The words came out like a tsunami, “Darcy? Doll? Please…please don’t leave me. I need you. I…I love you, Darcy.”

He swore she almost smiled.

Their voices drifted across his consciousness. Darcy said he looked cute. Darcy said it. Darcy was awake. Darcy was alive.

He felt the smile bloom across his face. The muscles hurt from disuse. But she was awake. And she was looking at him. And he had no choice but to smile.

“Hey Doll. You scared me.”

“Buck, I’ve had a bat-crap crazy day.”

“Is that so? Wanna tell me about it?”

“Maybe later,” her eyes were drifting shut again. “Can you climb in bed with me? I sleep better.”

Bucky didn’t care if Doctor Palmer had a fit. He climbed in beside her and held her tight. “I have a confession, Doll.”

“You love me,” she mumbled.

“I do. I love the way you smile. And your kindness. And the way you smell like vanilla. And the fact that you talk in your sleep.”

“Walk in my sleep,” she mumbled.

“And I kind of hate raisins.”

“Foul creature,” she exhaled about twenty minutes after she fell asleep.

Bucky laughed. Loudly and clearly for the first time in decades.


End file.
